The number of buildings connected to district heating networks is set to increase by 100,000 per year by 2045, according to a joint declaration by the German government and the energy sector last June. This would be a tripling of the current rate.
As a result, civil engineering measures for the necessary heating infrastructure in urban areas will increase over the next few years. In view of the expected impact on traffic and residents caused by the construction measures, the cross-company and cross-sector coordination of construction measures in the road and civil engineering sector is becoming increasingly important.
The Berlin-based energy supplier BTB GmbH has now decided to participate in the Infrest construction site atlas in Berlin, which was launched in 2016. The company supplies around 80,000 flats, commercial properties, public facilities and important industrial and research sites in Berlin with sustainable heating, electricity and cooling via an integrated heating network.
Greater efficiency in transport planning and construction costs
The web-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solution enables participating companies to identify temporal and spatial overlaps in their planned construction measures at an early stage and to coordinate their construction measures.
Ideally, this coordination can lead to significant cost savings as well as shorter overall construction times. Together with BTB, around 20 major infrastructure operators and the first public authorities in Berlin now have write and/or read access to the Infrest construction site atlas and can enter their planned construction projects in the system during the planning phase.
In the event of a possible overlap, the system automatically informs those responsible and they can contact specialist colleagues from other companies directly via the contacts stored in the system to discuss joint implementation.
In addition to the geo-referenced overview of all planned construction measures, diversions, excavation bans and events in urban areas can also be stored in the system for better planning.
Improved traffic flow through greater transparency
Last year, Infrest expanded its web-based solution to include traffic planning in order to create more transparency in the event of expected traffic obstructions. Infrastructure operators or the traffic planners they commission can enter the traffic changes and diversions required for construction work.
Municipal transport companies often organise rail replacement services during construction work on track networks. To avoid obstructing these temporary transport links when planning new construction work, transport companies can also include them in the Infrest roadworks atlas, which results in less congestion and better traffic flow for commercial traffic.
The Infrest roadworks atlas is now also being used in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and the district of Ahrweiler. „We are currently in talks with other cities and infrastructure operators who want to benefit from the advantages of early coordination of their planning and civil engineering work, not least due to the massive expansion and conversion of the existing energy infrastructure as a result of the upcoming heating transition“, concludes Infrest Managing Director Jürgen Besler.
